


Burn yourself up and take me with you

by ToshiChan



Series: Lavi/Yuu Week 2018 [2]
Category: D.Gray-man
Genre: Alternate Universe - Avatar & Benders Setting, Angst, Canon-Typical Violence, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Waterbending & Waterbenders, laviyuu week
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-28
Updated: 2018-03-28
Packaged: 2019-04-14 07:16:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,025
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14130918
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ToshiChan/pseuds/ToshiChan
Summary: A world before the Avatar. Kanda is a waterbender. Lavi is nothing.





	Burn yourself up and take me with you

The world of bending is a curious one. Some people are born with the talent to move the element of their tribe. And some aren’t.

* * *

Kanda was a waterbender born in the Southern Water Tribe. When he had lived for seventeen summers, he left his home in search of answers. His world was new and primitive. Things that are young are also weak. Their tribe was small and lacked the strength it needed to survive. Kanda had a gift. He could do something to help.

He arrived in the Earth Kingdom, so much bigger than Kanda was used to. He was lost in it, a stranger in lands he knew not how to navigate. Those he found were suspicious of him. Waterbenders never left their homes. But one had.

Kanda wouldn’t say he was a skilled bender. With nobody to teach him, he was limited by a lack of experience and knowledge of his own power. What he could do was simple, easy, basic. He had a talent of sorts, considering what he knew was self taught, but it still wasn’t enough to get by sometimes. Whenever he found himself fighting someone, it was ugly and clumsy. He would often freeze the water into some sort of object he could hit and slash with. If his opponent was a bender themselves, then he usually had to run before the fight could end.

Because he knew he would be the one to fall.

As Kanda travelled over the land, learning different ways of life that could help his tribe, rumours grew of somebody who commanded all four elements. People whispered that it was a spirit who had chosen to cross over and live in the human world. Others said that it was a cursed child who would burn themselves out trying to contain so much power. Either way, everyone agreed that such a person existed. Kanda didn’t believe in what he could not see. And so he did not trust these wild claims. Bending was something so rare at the moment and it was impossible to think that it could be taken one step further to combine all four elements into one person.

The world spun. People existed. Some could control an element. And others couldn’t. But nobody could control all four.

On the edge of the Fire Nation, Kanda met Lavi.

Lavi was an excitable boy who was apparently from none of the nations and instead chose to wander the world in search of adventures. He had a mop of wild red hair and one green piercing eye, the other a burnt and scarred mess from what Lavi claimed was ‘a childhood accident involving a camp fire and sleepwalking.’ The two ended up venturing into the Fire Nation together, though it was more of a case of Kanda setting off and Lavi following him because he said that Kanda was ‘cute.’

Kanda had never met anybody quite like Lavi before. Lavi was loud and cheerful and kind. As they travelled together, Kanda couldn’t remember ever seeing him sad once. Lavi had a passion for all things in life, big and small. He liked history. He said it made him feel like there was a purpose to things if they were remembered. And that he was going to remember everything. He pried information from Kanda with his annoying (not enduring, never enduring) ability to never shut up.

Lavi wasn’t a bender and yet he could handle himself. He fought with a staff that he used to sweep people off their feet with or bash at their limbs until they broke. He was graceful, like a dancer and yet he attacked with a fiery fury that had even Kanda wincing at times. Bandits started to stick clear of the duo as their notoriety spread.

Lavi always looked out for the underdogs. He insisted they had to stop at every village they passed to see if they could help with things. Lavi was quite handy with a hammer and could often be seen on the roofs of old buildings, smashing away at nails and whistling cheerfully. People loved him, and yet sometimes, it almost seemed as though he hated them.

Certain ones anyway.

One night, Lavi and Kanda were wandering the streets of a small village. Kanda didn’t like to be cooped up in stuffy wooden buildings for long and Lavi had suggested that they head out and see the stars. Unable to come up with any excuses, Kanda agreed.

They heard the screams coming from down an alley. Lavi didn’t even hesitate before running off into the darkness. Kanda followed quickly once the brief shock had worn off.

It was there that he found one of the most horrific scenes.

Lavi had a man on the ground and was repeatedly punching him. Over and over again, the redhead's fist met the man’s face with a sickening crack. Blood poured from the man’s nose. He was bucking his hips, trying to get Lavi off him but Lavi didn’t budge. Crumpled to the side of the fighters was a small boy. Kanda thought he was unconscious but as he crept closer, he saw that the boy’s eyes were open and glazed over with fear.

Kanda connected the dots.

They left the village behind him and never spoke of what had happened again. Lavi had broken all the fingers in his left hand and yet he didn’t even seem to care. And he grew angrier after that, when they came across bandits preying on the weak.

Lavi made it clear that he hated certain aspects of humanity.

“Does that include me?” Kanda asked wryly one day when Lavi finally asked him.

And Lavi looked at him with such burning intensity that Kanda nearly looked away.

“Never.” He said firmly. “I’d die before ever saying that to you.”

Kanda shivered. It felt as though in that moment, Lavi was going to burn himself alive in intensity and take Kanda with him.

Kanda hated to say it but he wouldn’t have minded that much.

**()**

Kanda worried sometimes that Lavi would get jealous of his ability to bend. Lavi had often been called ‘nothing’ by cruel benders they came along, and he looked at the water Kanda played with with such sadness and desperation in his eyes that Kanda couldn’t help but believe that Lavi wanted nothing more than to bend.

“It’s so cool what bending can be used for.” Lavi said one day after leaving a village that had a spa run by firebenders. “So many people use it for bad things but think about all the good it can bring. Why don’t people use it for peace, not war?”

“People suck.” Kanda suggested. Lavi laughed.

“Well you know I’m not going to argue with you there.” He agreed. His hand drifted up, almost absently, to brush against his scar tissue.

“Lavi…” Kanda found himself saying. “Did a bender do that to you?”

Lavi stiffened. Sure, he’d fed Kanda the campfire story but Kanda had long since suspected that it was a lie. A firebender had snatched half of Lavi’s sight from him and yet Lavi wouldn’t even admit it.

“We’ve travelled together for so long. You owe me this.” Kanda pushed.

“Look…” Lavi hesitated. “It was a long time ago. And the person who did it...well he’s being punished.”

“Being?”

“Oh look! A bird!”

“Lavi.”

“Hey.” Lavi folded his arms tightly. “Just let it go. I don’t like to talk about it. It was an accident.”

That was the last they spoke of it.

* * *

The thing was, Kanda was getting better at waterbending. And Lavi could kick some serious ass. But they weren’t invincible. And it was inevitable that they would eventually cross paths with someone who was stronger.

And they did.

The fight with the three bending bandits ended with Lavi on the ground, pinned down by one of the rogue men’s foot. Kanda had a knife against his throat and he could already feel blood trickling down his throat. He didn’t dare struggle unless the blade found its mark. Lavi was desperately trying to get up but the man silenced him with an efficient kick to the ribs.

“You two boys have made quite a name for yourself.” The leader of the gang mused. He was a firebender, though just as rough around the edges as Kanda. It was the fact that his two friends were such talented earthbenders that had seen Kanda and Lavi fall.

“Not intentionally.” Lavi wheezed.

“You took out a few friends of mine last month. Didn’t make me a happy man by doing that, now did you?”

“Oops.” Kanda said dryly. The man holding him gave him a rough shake.

“Don’t hurt him!” Lavi snapped. “Or I swear to Rava I’ll make you fucking regret ever doing it.”

“The mutt’s got a mouth.” The leader said in mock delight. “Maybe I’ll teach him some manners. A pup can’t bark if it hasn’t got a tongue.”

“Don’t you dare.” Kanda hurled himself forward but his neck met the blade and it cut deeper. He recoiled, holding back the scream that bubbled up in his throat.

“Careful now. Or you might be the one who loses his voice.” The leader sang. “In fact, I sort of like that idea. That’s another way to tame a wolf. Break its pack.”

“So many dog analogies.” Lavi tried to joke but Kanda had known him for so long now. He was scared and in pain and desperate.

“Maybe I don’t even need to cut out his tongue.” The leader went on as if Lavi hadn’t even spoken. “Maybe I could just burn it to ash. That’d be fun.”

“No!” Lavi screamed. “No don’t! Please, do it to me instead. Do it to me! Don’t hurt him. He’s innocent!”

“Innocent, Lavi? Do you even hear yourself. We’re in the same boat, don’t try and protect me!” Kanda yelled back. “I’m protecting you!”

“We protect each other.” Lavi sobbed. “Nobody’s meant to get hurt.”

“Oh, somebody’s getting hurt.” The leader stepped towards Kanda, hand alight and then-

The world exploded.

Everything went up in a blaze of fire. The heat intensified tenfold and the man holding Kanda screamed as he caught alight. In seconds he was ash. Kanda collapsed on the ground, curling in on himself as if that was supposed to prevent himself from burning to death. He could hear the screams of the two other men but not Lavi.

Was Lavi dead already? A pile of cinders before he could even scream?

NO!

But then Kanda realised something.

The fire. It wasn’t burning him. It swirled around him but didn’t come any closer. The heat was lessening. The men’s screams were dying with them. Kanda looked up and saw them melting, their skin bubbling and then peeling away altogether.

And in the centre of it all stood Lavi.

He had his hands up as if holding the fire at bay.

And Kanda realised with a start, that he was.

Lavi was controlling the fire. Lavi was burning three men alive in order to save Kanda. Lavi, with his burnt eye and his jealousy of benders, was standing amongst the hottest element as though they were old friends.

Lavi was a firebender!

The remaining men disintegrated and only then did Lavi let the fire fade. He stood there for a moment more, swaying slightly. And then he ran to Kanda.

“Kanda! Kanda are you alright.” Lavi’s rough hands gripped Kanda’s face. “You’re bleeding.”

Kanda became aware of just how much blood was running down his neck and then the world begun to spin. He sat down abruptly, and probably would’ve lain down too if not for Lavi’s support.

“Blood loss.” He muttered thickly. “I’m bleeding out.”

“No, no, no, no, no, no, no.” Lavi whispered, over and over again. “I can fix this. I can fix this!”

Kanda shook his head. It hurt. “It’s too late. The cut’s too deep. You probably burnt up our supplies.” Lavi winced.

“You can’t die.” His voice was thick with tears. “I can fix this. Please, let me fix this.”

“How?” Kanda was losing his vision. He was growing weaker and weaker. His time on the world was nearly over. He was going to die and never see Lavi ever again.

“Trust me.” Lavi whispered, and then everything was glowing.

It wasn’t fire this time. It was something else. Something crystal and clear and blue and beautiful.

It was water.  

_...somebody who commanded all four elements…_

“Lavi?” Kanda murmured. The pain in his neck and head was lessening. His vision was clearing. He could see Lavi in front of him, hands alight with magic as he healed Kanda.

“Sleep now, Yuu.” Lavi urged him. “I’ll tell you everything in the morning.”

Kanda closed his eyes and slept.

* * *

When he woke, Lavi was lying next to him. He had an arm slung over Kanda’s chest and was holding him close. Kanda sat up, holding back a groan of pain and glared at Lavi who blinked up at him.

“Explain.” Kanda snapped. Lavi sighed and sat up as well. For a moment, they just sat there.

And then Lavi spoke.

“I’m the person. The cursed child. The boy with too much power in him. I can control all four elements.”

“Impossible.”

“It’s true.” Lavi said desperately. “You’ve seen me do it.”

“Just water and fire.” Kanda said stubbornly. Lavi sighed again and held out his hand. A small funnel of wind gathered there. In the other hand, he drew a rock from the earth.

“There.” He muttered.

Kanda barely even heard him. He was too busy realising that everything he’d known about Lavi had been a lie.

“How is it even possible?” He asked, mostly to himself.

“My father was just like you and me.” Lavi let the air dissipate and the rock fall. “A firebender in fact. But my mother...she was a spirit. A beautiful spirit. She didn’t believe in being neutral. She came to earth and met my father. And then, you know. When a mummy and a daddy love each other very much they-”

“Stop making a joke out of it!” Kanda yelled suddenly. “Do you even realise how fucked up this is, Lavi? You’re a bender. You can bend all four elements! You’ve spent all these years lying to me. People called you nothing and you let them!”

“Yeah.” Lavi’s weak smile dropped. “Yeah I did.”

“Why?” Kanda’s voice cracked. “You’re so much better than that Lavi. People called you nothing and you acted like you were fine with it but then you watched people bending and you looked so sad. Why didn’t you bend?”

“That firebender who burnt my eye.” Lavi’s hand reached up to touch the scar. “That was me. And it wasn’t just my eye that got hurt. It was my father as well. He...he died. He died Kanda and I killed him. I was playing with fire and he was the one who got burnt. So I swore I’d never bend again. I told you he was still being punished. I’m punishing myself. By denying that part of me.”

Kanda could see it so clearly. Little Lavi, bright eyed and eager to prove himself to the world. And then suddenly so broken up inside because he’d been too eager. Too powerful. Too strong and too young to handle it.

“But you did just bend.” Kanda pointed out.

“I know.” Lavi looked at his hands. “And it felt good. I missed it. I missed it so fucking much but I thought it was for the best. I thought I could stop people from getting hurt.”

Kanda reached out and took his hands. “You did. You stopped me from getting hurt.”

“Yeah, and I killed three guys!”

“They deserved it.”

“No.” Lavi shook his head. “I hated them. I hate so many people. But nobody deserves to die. Nobody should get to make a choice like that. But I did. All because you were in danger. I let my fear and anger cloud me. I let my emotions dictate so much about me. That’s how my dad ended up dead. I was too passionate, too happy. I couldn’t hold it back.”

“You have so much power.” Kanda argued.  “You’re the literal child of a spirit! And a human. You’ve got both of them in you. You’re like a bridge between the two worlds. You have the power of a spirit and the heart of a human. Maybe you should get to choose.”

Lavi’s head shot up. “Don’t say that.”

“Look, Lavi.” It was Kanda’s turn to sigh. “You’re special. You have all four elements inside you. You’re the most powerful person alive. Haven’t you always said you want to help people. Help them with this. You can use this gift for good. Don’t you want to bring balance to the world?”

“I do.” Lavi whispered. “But not like that.” He gestured to the three large piles of ashes.

“So don’t be like that. Be better. Move past this. Learn from your mistakes. Be strong for those who can’t be. Fight against those who take too much and give nothing. The spirits turned their backs on our world long ago and left us to grow ugly and mean. You can change all that. You can be our spirit...our...our avatar!”

Lavi laughed wetly. “You’re an idiot Yuu Kanda. A complete and utter idiot. You always pretend you hate talking but look at you, delivering such a strong speech. Aren’t you a sour old man who doesn’t think humanity deserves another chance.”

“I think they do, if you’re the one to give it.” Kanda said carefully.

It was probably the right thing to say, considering the force in which Lavi crashed into him with. Their lips met somewhere in the middle of it all. It had certainly been a long time coming. They’d been dancing around each other for years. Kanda could feel the heat building up between them as Lavi pulled him closer.

Lavi was going to burn them up.

Kanda was happy to go with him.

**Author's Note:**

> Day 3 of LaviYuu week!!!!!!!!!! I think I filled all the prompts with this one. Watch me make everything about ATLA
> 
> Please leave a comment or kudos if you liked it!!!!!!!!


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